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Mother's Day
2008-05-11 13:06:00
"Happy Mother's Day!"Native Australian Bee with White FlowerMothers DayToday is Mother's Day, as you probably already know. People across the globe are honouring the dedication and value of mothers by giving gifts and other signs of appreciation. And with good reason - after all, without mothers none of us would have ever been born!I'd like to share with you today a little bit of history about Mother's Day that you might not have heard before.Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, whose mother had organized women’s groups to promote friendship and health, originated Mother’s Day. On May 12, 1907, she held a memorial service at her late mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia. Within five years virtually every state was observing the day, and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday. Over time, what had originally been primarily a day of honour became associated with the sending of cards and the giving of gifts, however, and, in protest against its commercializat...

Sunset at Brisbane Golf Club - Sky Watch Friday
2008-05-09 00:49:00
Sunset at the Brisbane Golf Club Sky Watch Friday I was at a baptism in Brisbane this week, and the service ended with refreshments available at the Indooroopilly Golf Club. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived, and in the "Jacaranda room" I had an excellent view out to the west, where the sun was setting over the golf links. Somewhat surprisingly, the best framing I could find for the sunset was to zoom right in to 300mm, excluding the golf links entirely and silhouetting the mountains in the distance.Mountains in the distance withthe setting sunThe photo above was taken at about 4:30pm, before the sun began to set properly. I was walking through a doorway, and caught a glimpse of the mountains through the leaves of this plant. So, out came the camera for a quick shot! The leaves give an interesting tilt to the image, framing the mountains and drawing your eye along a diagonal path.This photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera. Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make...
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Watchful Otters - Wordless Wednesday
2008-05-06 21:00:00
"Watchful"Two Otters out of the waterWordless Wednesday This photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera. Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$! Other blogs: WOWebbs blogs

Blogger Buzz: Blogger now schedules future-dated posts
2008-05-04 02:44:00
I know some of you are have been using Blogger in Draft to schedule your posts recently. This functionality is now available in the standard blogger interface. Simply create a new post, and click "Post Options" to access the date settings for your post. Set a date in the future, click "Publish", and your post will automatically be scheduled for posting on the date you chose.This feature can be very handy when you have "writer's block" and can't manage to write to a deadline, or just want to take a break for a while. I encourage you to give this feature a try - you might find it comes in useful some day. Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$! Other blogs: WOWebbs blogs
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Glowing Orange Sunrise (Silhouette) - Sky Watch Friday
2008-05-01 21:00:00
"Don't worry about the future...."Sky glowing orange as the sun risesSky Watch Friday On Wednesday I got up around 6am, just before the sun rose, and was able to capture this shot. Once again, this sunrise is different from all my previous shots. Watching the sun rise helped me to stop and forget all my worries of the future, just take a moment to relax and enjoy the present. I hope you can also take some time one day soon to watch the sun rise. Each one is different, so you'll be guaranteed of a fresh show every day.This Sky Watch Friday photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera. Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$! Other blogs: WOWebbs blogs
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Related Posts - New Feature
2008-05-01 12:02:00
I'd like to point out a new feature that I've added to this blog recently - related posts. If you click on any post, you'll find a list of related links at the bottom of the page, just below the comments section. You might like to check out some of these - the photos go back to late 2006. Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$! Other blogs: WOWebbs blogs
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Three Leaf Clover - St. Patrick's Day
2008-03-17 01:20:00
Three-leafed CloverSt. Patrick's DayMarch 17th - St. Patrick's Day. Today I thought I'd share with you a short history of St. Patrick. Some of you might know this already, but a lot of people haven't actually heard the reason we remember him on this day.Patrick was born in Roman Britain. When he was about sixteen he was captured by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. He entered the church, as his father and grandfather had before him, becoming a deacon and a bishop. He later returned to Ireland as a missionary, working in the north and west of the island. Legend credits Patrick with teaching the Irish about the concept of the Trinity by showing people the shamrock, a 3-leaved clover, using it to highlight the Christian belief of 'three divine persons in the one God'. St. Patrick died in 493, and by the eighth century he had become the patron saint of Ireland.In Australia we celebrate St. Patri...
More About: Leaf

Weird Clouds Hiding the Sun - Sky Watch Friday
2008-03-13 16:00:00
Sun shining through a gap in the strange cloudsSky Watch Friday This sky actually looked quite bland when seen in real life, but I somehow felt the urge to take a photo of it. Maybe it was the framing with the tops of the houses at the bottom and the tree silhouette, but regardless of the reason I took the photo. This is what it turned out like. By focusing on the sun and adjusting the white balance for it, the clouds are made to look ominous and threatening, when they are far from it in reality!This was shot with a 28mm (equivalent) lens, making it appear slightly "fish-eyed".This Sky Watch Friday photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera. Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$! Other blogs: WOWebbs blogs Internet eX-plorer 8
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Sunset at the end of Summer - Sky Watch Friday
2008-02-28 23:40:00
Sunset at the End of Summer Sky Watch Friday Today is the last day of Summer here in Australia. This sunset is saying "Goodbye" to the Summer, and welcoming the start of Autumn. We've had a very cold Summer this year - only three days got above 30 degrees Celsius - so I'm curious to see what Autumn and Winter turn out to be! Here's wishing you all a great start to the new season, whether you're in Australia entering Autumn, or in America entering Spring.Update: Apparently the U.S. doesn't enter Spring until the 21st. This'll be an early welcome for some of you!This photo taken with the Kodak C330 digital camera. Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$! Other blogs: WOWebbs blogs Internet eX-plorer 8
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E for Excellent Blog Award
2008-02-18 06:16:00
Angie from photosforthefunofit.blogspot.com just awarded me the "E for Excellent " blog award. This is a new award to me, and I am very honoured to receive it. Angie, although humbly classifying herself as an amateur, posts some really excellent photos over on her blog, and I suggest that you check it out whenever you have time. Thanks, Angie!Update: I am passing on this award to Anna, from My Only Photo. Anna maintains a top quality photo blog with lot's of great nature photos. Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$! Other blogs: WOWebbs blogs Internet eX-plorer 8
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Brilliant Red Sunrise - Sky Watch Friday
2008-02-15 08:53:00
Brilliant Red Sunrise - Sky Watch Friday For my second Sky Watch Friday, I'm posting a sunrise. This is one of the most popular landscapes for photographers and painters alike, but this does not seem to detract from the impressiveness of the scene in every new photo I see. Somehow each sunrise has a unique "flavour" to it which gives it a renewed meaning each time it is interpreted by a different artist.One of the unique aspects of this sunrise is the silhouette formed by the gum trees in the foreground. This is a typical Australian scene, and anyone who's lived in the country for long gets to know and love this early morning symbol.This photo taken with the Fujifilm S9600 digital camera. Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$! Other blogs: WOWebbs blogs Internet eX-plorer 8
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Bearded Dragon Lizard from Australia
2008-02-14 07:48:00
Australian Bearded Dragon Lizard Bearded Dragons have broad triangular heads and flattened bodies, with adults reaching approximately 18 to 24 inches head-to-tail. When threatened, the lizards will expand a spiny pouch under their jaw and turn it black, as well as inhale air and puff up to make them appear larger. The pouch resembles a beard, lending the animal their name.Bearded Dragons have a distinctive series of spines radiating horizontally from the head to the tail. Their color ranges from light tan to dark brown, depending on their native soil, often with highlights of black, brilliant red, or gold, and can change somewhat depending upon their internal condition. Bearded Dragons can occupy a large range of habitats from the desert to dry forests and scrublands.All species are from Australia, but they have been exported worldwide and bred successfully in captivity. In the wild, the various species are widely distributed throughout different regions of Australia. Bearded Dragons...
More About: Australia

The Glory of the Heavens - Clouds and Tree - Sky Watch Friday
2008-02-07 11:13:00
Clouds and a Tree in Shadow - Sky Watch Friday I got this shot purely by chance one day. I was outside with the camera getting some nature photos, when I happened to glance up and see this stunning cloud formation aligned perfectly with the top of a gum tree. Had I gone a few steps further in any direction, this scene wouldn't have been as exceptional, as the tree needed to be in just the right position relative to the clouds for this shot to work. As it turned out, I was able to quickly snap this picture.The composition of this shot is almost the inverse of Rembrandt's famous style, where he uses small areas of bright light to draw attention to important areas of the painting. In this photo, the large dark area occupied by the tree draws your attention, and then you notice the bright white cloud in the opposite corner. Then a trailing wisp of cloud brings your attention back in circle to the right, where the dark tree is.Another interesting aspect of this photo is the many differe...
More About: Clouds , Glory

Queen Mary Falls Waterfall - Wordless Wednesday
2008-02-07 00:01:00
Wordless Wednesday At the foot of a Waterfall - Queen Mary Falls , AustraliaThis photo taken with the Kodak C330 digital camera. Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$! Other blogs: WOWebbs blogs Internet eX-plorer 8

Happy New Year 2008! [Fireworks]
2007-12-31 09:26:00
Happy New Year !Wishing you a safe, happy and productive New Year in 2008.Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$! Other blogs: The Big Byte WOWebbs blogs Internet eX-plorer 8
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Merry Christmas!
2007-12-24 07:51:00
Merry Christmas !In my last post I asked you all what photo you would like as a Christmas gift. I have received quite a few varied responses, so thank you all for your feedback. In this post I've included two of the requests. A Merry Christmas to you all, and may you have a fruitful and happy New Year in 2008!Nature Nut / JJ Loch asked for a photo of the interior of a church decorated for Christmas. Tom and Anna asked for an "Aussie Christmas Tree" (Most of them are the same as he American ones!) Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$! Other blogs: The Big Byte WOWebbs blogs Internet eX-plorer 8
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Purple Garden Flowers - Purple Sunday
2007-12-22 11:21:00
Purple Garde n Flowers Here we are at the last Purple Sunday in Advent. It's now only two days until Christmas, and the celebrations are already beginning. These next few days are an exciting time, especially for children, and we reach a culmination point on Christmas day, when gifts are exchanged and presents unwrapped, and everyone can feel the joy of the season. Although we don't get to see Santa riding through the snow here in Australia, we do get to enjoy all the colours and life of Summer in full bloom.The flowers in this picture are a garden variety grown in the Spring to add a bit of colour to the area. Right now they are flowering profusely, probably helped by the recent rain, allowing me to capture this shot of a group of them growing together. As always, I would greatly appreciate it if anyone can identify the flowers, as I bought these in a "colour mix" packet of seeds and therfore don't know what they're called.And now, I would like to set a question to you:What would...
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Emus on the Roam
2007-10-11 09:25:00
As I mentioned in the last post, I've recently had the opportunity to visit the Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo, NSW. I took lots of photos (800+), so I've got lots of pics to post on this blog. For the first picture, I've chosen a subject that is uniquely Australian - an Emu.The Western Plains Zoo has a good setup for photographing the animals. Instead of planting 8-foot fences between the people and animals, there is a sort of moat-and-wall arrangement, where you effectively stand on a mound of earth which puts you level with the top of the fence. This gives you a clear line of sight to the animals, which is great for photosThese emus were quite inquisitive, coming right to the edge of the "fence" to get their photos taken. With 10x zoom, I was able to get some good close-ups of the emus' heads. The photo above shows a head-on view of the emu, while the photo below portrays the bird from the side. Both of these photos seem to portray a sense of action and alertness, as if the emu ...
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Holiday Time!
2007-10-01 01:53:00
I'm going on a holiday for two weeks starting from tomorrow, so I'm not sure if I'll have internet connectivity during that period. If I do manage to get connected during the holiday, I'll try to get something up, otherwise, see you all in 2 weeks.One of the places I'll be visiting is the Dubbo Zoo. This should be a great opportunity for some animal photos, something that I haven't had a lot of here lately. It's supposed to mimic African scenery, so that's even better.Remember, while I'm away you could always try browsing through the "label cloud" on the right of the page, or use the search box above it. I've got over 140 photos up here so far, so I hope that's enough to keep you amused while I'm away!Other blogs: The Big Byte WOWebbs blogs Internet eX-plorer 8
More About: Holiday , Time

Moon Watching
2007-09-29 04:37:00
(Nearly) Full Moon Close UpFirst, let me tell you one thing - no, I did not use a telescope. A few nights ago I got out with the new camera, stuck it on a tripod, and got some shots of the (nearly) full Moon. When I looked at them on-screen later (and with a bit of cropping), this is what came up! I've never been able to take a photo of the Moon as accurate and detailed as this before, but with the Fujifilm S9600's 10.7x zoom these photos turned out remarkably clear. You can actually see the minute markings and dark patches on the Moon.I found, however, that using auto-exposure settings resulted in a washed-out Moon, even when I focused the camera on the Moon's radius. I actually had to increase the shutter speed to about 1/320 before the Moon's markings started to become visible. This also helped to make the camera steadier, so I was able to use an ISO setting of just 80.Later in the week I got up on the roof and shot the photo below. The Moon is framed by the branches of the e...
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5,000 A.D. - Beginning a new Millenium
2007-09-28 07:11:00
Today this blog recieved it's 5,000th visitor! Interestingly this visitor was actually from Australia, which happens to be my home country. Here's some stats about that visitor in particular:Time of Visit Sep 28 2007 9:23:54 am Last Page View Sep 28 2007 9:24:43 am Visit Length 49 seconds Page Views 3 Referring URL http://www.google.com.au/search?q=heart tomatoes&hl=enSearch Engine google.com.au Search Words bullock heart tomatoesAccording to Google Analytics I've actually had 6,103 visits, but I'll use the sitemeter count for this post. Here is a graph of all the traffic to this blog so far this year:As you can see, I've had a great increase in blog traffic over the past few weeks. Now I'm going to have to stop posting about every 1,000 visits, because at this rate I should get about 1,600 per month!But it's not just the traffic that counts. As you will know if you have a blog yourself, the visitor loyalty is one of the key factors to ascertaining a bl...
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Bird of Paradise Flower - The Onset of Spring
2007-09-22 08:12:00
Bird of Paradise Flower - Spring has come!Bird of Paradise FlowerSpring is now in full bloom here in Australia. The grass is growing, the trees are blossoming with flowers, and the cicadas chirp at night. The Mozzies are biting, the flies are invading our homes, and a large portion of every Saturday is spent mowing the lawn. Everything is on the move. And, of course, all this life and activity comes with a host of new photographic opportunities.Yesterday afternoon I went for a visit to one of the local parks. The flowers there are in full bloom and provide great opportunities for macro shots. In that 2-hour session alone I took nearly 200 photos! Thankfully the era of digital cameras has alleviated the need for film, otherwise that session would have cost quite a bit.This bird of paradise flower is one of the hugely diverse species of flora to be found in the park I visited yesterday. I took this photo just before sunset, when the sun's rays shining through the flower give it a bri...
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Life on a smaller scale [Mushrooms in Grass]
2007-08-19 13:18:00
These two small groups of mushrooms are the type that spring up immediately after some rain, and then disappear as quickly as they came. Although we have had a lot of rain here lately, I actually took these photos a few years ago when the Kodak C330 was new. These photos depict two different types of mushroom, one group short with a slight brownish tint to their "caps", or "heads", and the other tall and thin, with flatter, white caps. I think this photo conveys a sense of silent, stealthy growth - the mushrooms appear to be "still life", but all the while they are quietly growing underfoot.The first of these two photos has the popular "bi-focal" arrangement - two major subjects dominate the picture, complementing each other and providing an interesting field in which the eye can play. On the left, we have the tight bunch of 4 small mushrooms, while on the right a sprig of grass splays out, leading our eyes in the opposite direction.In the second photo, the mushrooms seem to be str...
More About: Life , Mushrooms , Grass , Scale , Mush

Lazy Sunday [Bearded Dragon Lizard]
2007-08-12 11:34:00
Lazy Sunday - A Beard ed Dragon Lizard in the SunLazy Lizard Lies in the SunRecently I was walking around a friend's property, mostly Australian semi-rural bushland, when I came across this little creature. Although he looks frightening, the Bearded Dragon lizard is practically harmless, and refused to move a muscle even when we picked him up! Before moving him, I snapped this shot at an unusual angle. The detail in this photo is amazing when viewed full-screen, especially around the lizard's head - you can see every small spike and inflection in his scaly skin. Although, as I said, these lizards are practically harmless, they can give you a nasty bite if provoked, so don't go picking them up!This shot really makes you think. Whenever anybody looks at this picture they tend to automatically tilt their head counter-clockwise 90 degrees and look up and down the lizard's body. That's because of the unusual composition and depth of field in this photo.The Bearded Dragon's head form...
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The Blossom of the Pond [Water Lily Flower]
2007-08-04 11:37:00
Pink water lily with water droplets in pondWater Lily This Water Lily blossom is yet another example of nature's wondrous beauty. As with all flowers of this sort, the soft pink petals seem to serve as a showcase for the bright yellow center of the flower. Each petal has a delicate adornment of water droplets which help to bring time and depth to the photo. The background of lily-pads help show the close-up nature of the image. This photo was taken at Singleton, NSW, Australia. It shows a completely different aspect of Australia's natural heritage than the Dry Landscape shown before.This photo is really just a point-and-shoot picture - there are no special compositional techniques used, no fancy aperture or shutter-speed adjustments, just a simple fill-the-frame photo from about 15cm away. The only noteworthy aspect of this photo's composition is the familiar "concentric focus" theme coming through again - the main curves in the picture converge on the central subject of the image...
More About: Flower , Pond , Flow

Dry Australian Landscape - The real Aussie Bliss?
2007-08-01 12:59:00
Australian Grazing Field - a Dry Landscape Dry Australian LandscapeWhen I saw this photo, I immediately thought of the Windows XP desktop background "Bliss" that many will know so well. It depicts an artificially green meadow with a perfect sky in the background, and some distant mountains. Well, this photo shows a far from perfect landscape, with the dry, parched grass and hot looking sky, but I suppose you could call this the "Aussie Bliss". This photo was taken near Goondiwindi, in Queensland, Australia.This photo differs from the "rule of thirds" we have been seeing lately - the photo is plainly comprised of two sections split vertically by the tree line. Both the curve of the clouds and the pattern of the grass incline the viewer's attention towards the center-right of the picture, meeting the horizon as it reaches the edge of the image.The main feeling conveyed by this picture seems to be one of dryness, of a starved countryside that is deprived of it's utmost source of vital...
More About: Australian , Real , Scape

Spammerfied!
2007-08-01 05:35:00
Two major events have occurred for this blog in the past few days:This blog received it's 3,000th visitor on Jul 26 at 10:12:18 pmThis blog was classified as a spam site!Yes, Google officially prevented me from posting anything to my blog, as I was though to be a "link spammer" and my blog was classified as spam. I quickly submitted a request for revision, and just got notified today that my blog was "fair dinkum" and that I am now allowed to post again.Well, now that I'm able to post, I'll assemble a few statistics about this blog's visitors for the past few months. You're welcome to submit you favourite photos for inclusion in the upcoming best bits as well, I'll officially launch the "survey" soon.That's all for now,DavidOther blogs: The Big Byte WOWebbs blogs Internet eX-plorer 8

The Sunflower that's really a sunflower [Close-up of a Sunflower]
2007-07-27 13:02:00
Close-up of a Sunflower Sunflower Close-upSince I posted the photo of a pumpkin flower under the title of "The Sunflower that's not a sunflower", I've had people ask whether I have any real sunflower photos. So I had a look through my archives and found this photo. I took this shot a few years ago, when I had just got a new 4.2MP digital camera (the Kodak C330). The level of detail is amazing - try viewing this photo full-size and you can even see the fine hairs on the leafy part. This would definitely do well as a desktop background.This photo really seems to draw you into it with a sense of depth and perspective, even though it has a relatively "flat" subject. The circular center section with the stamen in it seems to bulge out, while the petals radiating from the center appear to bend inwards. The eye is particularly drawn to the center section, but this image has to be viewed as a whole to be fully appreciated. An interesting thing to note is the fact that this photo does not a...
More About: Close , Close-up , Close up , Really